2013年1月16日 星期三

Another Formosa

Little known factoid: The Province of Formosa in Argentina (black dot on the map is the capital city, also named Formosa) is partially antipodal to Taiwan. That is, they are situated at the opposite side of the earth. Pure coincidence.

The City of Formosa in Argentina was founded in 1879 by Commander LJ Fontana. The territory became a province in 1955 through the decree of Juan Perón. It has twice the area of Taiwan with only half a million residents. The name Formosa originated from archaic Spanish fermosa (now hermosa), not from Portuguese as that for Taiwan. Both mean "beautiful", of course.

Also purely coincidental, as in Taiwan in 1947, a massacre had taken place. This occurred in the Rincón Bomba area, where the gendarmes (policemen) using machine guns murdered hundreds of aborigines (the Pilagá people) for refusing to work under deplorable conditions in the sugar plantations. The official version alleged that the aborigines attacked the police first - a total fabrication.

The police intimidation went on in this border state for the next six decades and the tragedy remained hidden until 2005 when the first mass graves were discovered. Things have not improved much since, though; the Pilagá people still live in abject poverty. The dominance of the ruling class from the Spanish colonial system established 500+ years ago seems still alive and well today.

In contrast, the Spaniards had never really had a firm grip of Taiwan and were forced out from the island by the Dutch in 1642. The Spaniards and the Dutch were also quite often attacked by the aborigines in Taiwan.

Surprisingly, there is no diplomatic, commercial, or any other relationship between the two Formosa's. There may be a kind of a "link", unknowingly and tenuously forged for sure, through the bird Toco Toucan (below), native also to Formosa, Argentina (among other S American regions). Toucan is known in Formosa/Taiwan as 大嘴鳥, originally a main character in the Japanese キョロちゃん or the Morinaga ChocoBall cartoon series. Most kids know the theme song by heart.

2 則留言:

Fascinating, and unexpected. Unfortunately Argentina's relations to the 'other Formosa' are curtailed by it's adherence to the one-China policy. This adherence is owed to Argentine desires to have Chinese support in asserting their claims to the place I initially thought you were refering to when I saw the map. Indeed, the Falklands are a good candidate for 'another Formosa' even if they appear nothing like Taiwan, since they also live under the threat of an undesired annexation by a country with a history of aggression.

The one-China policy of many nations that include Argentina is indeed based on economic reasons. Taiwan has responded in kind by giving foreign aids to a number of tiny countries some barely noticeable on the maps. The Chinese have never stopped marginalizing Taiwan in the world diplomatic arena. At least Argentina has not aimed missiles at the Falkland Islands.